The village of Camber takes its name from "the Camber" (la Chambre) the huge embayment of the English Channel located between Rye, old Winchelsea and Old Romney that was gradually lost to "innings" and silting-up following changes to the coastline and the changed course of the Eastern Rother since the Middle Ages.

Camber came into its own with the game of golf: it was originally a collection of fishermen's dwellings. By the early 1890s, the number of visitors to Rye increased as tourism became more prevalent. One result of this was the building, in 1894, of Rye Golf Links in the area of sand dunes which occupy the shores of Rye Bay. The Royal William Hotel opened that year, and gradually the new village expanded. The Rye and Camber Tramway, a tourist railway originally opened for the members of the golf links to carry their gear, was opened in 1895; it closed to the public at the outbreak of World War II and never reopened.

Camber Castle, otherwise known as Winchelsea Castle, was built by Henry VIII to guard the western entrance to "the Camber" in the 16th Century and is located half way between Rye and Winchelsea on the other side of the river.